Summer League 2024 Games 1 & 2 Recap (or, Money Moni)

It’s hard to know what to make of the first two Cavalier Summer league games. It seems both were decided by a pronounced lack of shit-giving. Unfortunately, in the first of these two games, a 106-79 beatdown at the hands of Jett Howard and the Orlando Magic, the wine and gold were the team that lacked vigor, trailing in this one by as much as 34. Fortunately, there were some bright spots: the first of which involved a beefier Emoni Bates who looked in control and like a potent offensive weapon. Bates scored 20 in 23 minutes and despite the Cavs turning the ball over and not playing much defense, looked comfortable running the offense, displaying nice flashes of a nifty two man game with Pete Nance.

Despite Nance’s 2-5 from deep and some nice (and other not-so nice) moments from Jaylon Tyson, the Cavs were doomed by poor shot selection, spastic ball-movement, and defensive indifference. The Magic starting lineup of Jett Howard, Anthony Black, Jay Huff, Tristan da Silva, and Jarrett Culver dominated the Cavs’ starters, with Howard looking especially impressive going 5-10 from deep, and Anthony Black ball hawking four steals, dropping 20, and posting a game high +36.

As for the other silver lining from the Magic game, Jaylon Tyson looked strong and capable with an NBA body and the frame to play some small ball four, but also run some offense. Tyson finished with 15/8/2 in 24 minutes and finished in transition and crashed the offensive boards from the corners. There were definitely a couple moments where he was surprised by NBA athleticism and got stuffed in transition, but he doesn’t play too fast and has the strength to get to his spots. He was also haphazard with his handle and passing at times finishing with four turnovers.

Craig Porter Jr. and Pete Nance were especially shitty in this one, with Porter not being able to hit the broad side of a barn (3-10, 0-4 from deep) and Nance looking Charmin soft on D. Sunday’s game was another story for Nance and CPJ who bounced back in a big way. Nance finished around the rim with NBA athleticism flashing a nice jump hook. What was more impressive was his lack of hesitation, as he fired  faway from deep in the aforementioned Emoni/Pete pick-and-pop. Pete was 2-3 from downtown and finished with 14/3/0 and a block. I’d like to say that he played better D, but Milwaukee rarely got to the back-line of the Cavs’ D in the half-court and more frequently turned it over to the Cavs’ who had their hands in the passing lanes habitually. The bucks threw the ball away a whopping 25 times in 40 minutes in their 112-81 loss to Cleveland, with 15 of those being steals.

The announcers noted a “spirited” practice after the wine and gold’s lackluster Friday showing, which must have led to Cleveland thieving the ball all night.. One thing the announcers also noted was the Cavs not playing like they had a point guard on the floor in Friday’s loss. That wasn’t an issue against Milwaukee. Craig Porter Jr. settled in and played like the point guard we expected him to with 15/6/7 line (though a careless four turnovers). Porter doesn’t quite have the same explosion he did when he played for the Cavs in the regular season. It’s obvious the effects of Craig’s late season ankle sprain still linger. Also, CPJ’s still struggling with his 3-ball, and has gone 0-4 in his first two games. He still prefers to shoot off the bounce, but I’d like to see him be able to work for a catch-and shoot.

Cleveland led by as much 38 Sunday and there were some particularly spectacular plays, most emphatically punctuated by rim rattling dunk by Zhaire Smith in the second quarter.

Smith, despite that athleticism is still a little wild in his game. After Smith pitched an 0-fer in his start Friday, he was a bench high +14 Sunday. Smith’s 9/1/3 line was fed by four steals in 18 minutes. If he’s going to make it as an NBA player anywhere, he’ll have to latch on as a hyperactive athletic defender first and develop his offensive game from there.

Sporting a glorious mullet and Larry Bird’s number 33, Luke Travers took Smith’s place in the starting lineup against Orlando Sunday after sitting out the Friday game. Travers has the defensive chops to play in the NBA, and was fantastic cutting off the ball, but he missed his one open corner three. The talk is that the Cavs have no desire to bring him over this season, and if that’s ever going to change, the ability to hit the open triple holds the key. Still Travers’ 10/7/3 line in 20 minutes was in line with the Cavs’ overall defensive excellence. Luke was active on the boards and around the rim, dove for loose balls, and if he can get his three-ball worked out and adds a bit of game off the bounce, could be a rotation player in a couple years. He could also play in the NBL for 15 years.

Jaylon Tyson was less nervous, Sunday, and looked like he was a little more comfortable running the offense and stepping into his shot. He traded playmaking duties with CPJ and Emoni Bates to finish with a 14/7/4 line and 2-5 from deep. Jaylon stepping into catch-and-shoot threes was a nice sign, and he also flashed some well timed cuts behind the D and body control around the basket.J aylon strikes me as a guy with a bit of a “do everything” game, and I hope he’s good enough of a generalist to fill a role in the rotation this season.

It would be nice to see Tyson and the rest of the Cavs in an actual competitive game, which neither of these were. Sunday, that was mostly because the Cavs did an unbelievable job of turning the floor over quickly after missed shots and turnovers. Many an on-the numbers, outlet pass was thrown on Cavalier fly routes.

Sender and receiver of many of those touchdown passes was Emoni Bates. Money Bates looked completely in control for the entirety of the Bucks game. Bates notched an efficient 18/6/4 in 20 minutes with only two turnovers and a game high +20. The only real blemish to his game was his unrepentant 2-8 shooting from deep. As we all know, Emoni can get a little chucky at times. His first instinct is to shoot. Always. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but his best moments come when the ball moves and comes back to him. Sometimes Bates has so much confidence he thinks he can make every shot where he has an inch of space, when he doesn’t need to. But conversely who doesn’t like that bit of J.R. Smith in him? I can’t wait for a regular season Cavs game when he goes super nova.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one more player. Four year Wichita State player, and one year Aggie, Dexter Dennis was solid in two games, with a 7/6/0 line against the the Magic and a 6/3/2 line with four stocks against the Bucks. Dennis hasn’t shot particularly well, but he has size at 6-5, and seems to play well around the basket. He’s at least earning himself some playing time with the Charge or a foreign team.

The other interesting Cav was D.J. Burns. Burns can’t guard in space at his heft, but he’s got a lot of skills, and can carve out space around the basket. His screens are impossible to navigate. He has fantastic touch and a huge wingspan and a great feel for the game. He stopped the bleeding in the first half of the Magic game by setting screen, carving out space, and grabbing loose balls. In the Milwaukee game, Burns put up 7/5/2 and four stocks in 15 minutes, mainly by just being around the ball and the basket.Burns is a project. He probably needs to lose at least 80 more pounds to be an effect NBA player, but hopefully the Cavs view him as a long term piece that they can develop if he puts the work to drop the weight.

Fresh off the Final Four… DJ Burns gets his first two buckets of Summer League!

📺 CLE-ORL | Live on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/i2reJkRCn0

— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2024

For the Bucks, MarJon Beauchamp was guilty of seven of the giveaways and looked disastrously out of control at times, but still managed to drop 19/11/1 and a pair of stocks. Chris Livingston was my favorite Bucks starter: 17 points on 11 shots, and was -13. The Akronite was the 58th pick of the ’23 draft and was Milwaukee’s best for squad that looked like they’d been out a little too long in Vegas the night before. The Cavs take that test tomorrow night as they take on the Warriors at 10 Eastern. I’d expect them to sit Emoni and/or CPJ on the back-to-back, so it should be interesting to see what Travers can do with a different role. Let’s hope we get a good game. Until then, go Cavs.